Willie Anderson: 'I’ll always remember us being taken from a cell with writing and crucifixes on the wall'

From being imprisoned by a military junta in Argentina to facing down the All Blacks, rugby provided Willie Anderson a passport to the world. In his autobiography, Crossing The Line, the Ulster legend recounts those life-changing events along with his struggles with alcohol addiction and personal tragedy.

Former Ireland Captain Willie Anderson at his home outside Magherafelt, Co Derry. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye

So even though he has a book out, and he’s supposedly one of the largest personalities in all of Irish rugby, there’s Big Willie Anderson this week still being dwarfed by one of his own when it comes to launches and red carpets.

As impressive and as much as craic as it has been revisiting the clubhouses of Dungannon and Rainey Old Boys, promoting the book and meeting old friends, it ain’t New York. It ain’t the Met Gala.